The media has been chock full of news about sexual harassment and related issues creating a hostile work environment. Do not think that this news escapes either CMS (state) or TJC surveyors’ attention. We know from experience that issues in the news influence surveyors’ sensitivity and alertness to related Conditions of Participation and standards enforcement.

The Joint Commission has updated its hand hygiene standard for all accreditation programs. Effective January 1, 2018 surveyors will cite the failure of individuals to perform hand hygiene in the process of providing direct patient care as a deficiency resulting in a...

The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals is to improve patient safety. The Joint Commission established its National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) in order to help accredited organizations address specific areas of concern in regard to...

Emergency Departmentcrowding is exacerbated by the increase in the number of patients with mental disorders, substance abuse problems or both, who present with acute problems. Besidesthe mental health conditions these patients often have other medical problems including diabetes, liver disease, and various infections.

With CMS and The Joint Commission increasingly pushing to make sure facilities are following requirements and standards regarding mental health, now is a good time to assess your own facility’s mental health resources. But what happens when you’re in a facility without a behavioral health services unit? How do you keep patients and staff safe?

A patient handoff (also known as transitioning) is both the act of passing a patient between caregivers and the information exchanged between the sender (the provider giving away the patient) and the receiver (the provider taking the patient).These transfers can be as dramatic as airlifting a patient to a specialty hospital and telling the EMTs that the patient thinks she can fly and will try to jump out of the helicopter, or as mundane as a nurse ending her shift and telling her replacement the patient has been taken off a certain medicin

Despite state and federal regulations, and private hospital accreditation programs that try to ensure high-quality care, errors occur in hospitals that result in patient injuries. Many errors are due to process failures rather than unpredictable accidents. Process failures can result in harm or